8/08/2010

Pancake Sunday

I have to say, having perused the site a bit, I think that I will be going back to The Tasty Kitchen for more recipes in the future. Go ahead and do a search for pancakes. Look at all the results. Yum!!!!

This morning, I had a bit of help from Island Girl. She was the first one up (then me), so she sat in her bouncy seat for most of the time I was cooking. Towards the end of pancake prep, I hollered for Island Dad to get Island Boy, who was stirring. The sudden yell scared Island Girl, and she spent the remaining cooking time on my hip (safely away from the griddle, no worries). She even helped me pour the very last of the batter, grabbing the handle to the bowl when I tipped it. My little chef in training!

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Whisk until very well-blended. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, milk, syrup, butter, and vanilla. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, and whisk until well-blended.

Pour by the 1/4-cupful onto a preheated griddle, and cook on first side until edges appear dry. Flip, and cook for another minute or two.

First, my own substitutions:
I used whole wheat flour, as that is simply what I keep on hand. While most of the time, it doesn't make a huge flavor difference, I definitely think these would have been better with the bleached, all-purpose flour. I promise this is one of the only times you'll hear me advocating using the refined stuff over the whole-wheat stuff!
I used maple syrup instead of corn syrup. If anything, it added to the flavor, but to my taste, there was no real difference.
I also used the seeds from one vanilla bean in place of the vanilla. Here, you could taste a BIG (positive) difference! Vanilla bean just adds a much fresher, more natural flavor than does vanilla extract.

When you're pouring the pancakes onto the griddle, be warned that this is an airier, fluffier batter than I've worked with in previous posts. The batter, for me, didn't "pour" so much as have to be kind of dropped onto the skillet. This can somewhat affect the circular shape, but I guarantee that will be more than made up for in flavor.

We did not find a need to add further maple syrup to these, thanks to the sugar and syrup already in the pancakes. According to The Pioneer Woman, this is heavenly, and she even takes it a step further, making a basic icing to go over top!

These pancakes may be my favorites so far. The light, airy texture was a great complement to the intense and sweet flavor.

About Me

Island Mom has a BA in Psychology and an MSW (Social Work). Having spent one year as a social worker, she now enjoys her time as a stay at home mom (SAHM)and proud Air Force wife.
Island Mom and Island Dad married in 2006, and they welcomed their first child, Island Boy, in March 2008. In March 2010, they welcomed Island Girl.